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Dean snorted, tossing his pillow up in the air and catching it. “You’re not leaving us there, Z.”
“What if we commit mass suicide?” Zara suggested. “I’m sure the kitchen has some sharp knives.”
Theo choked on his water. “How about no?”
Zara pouted. “It was just a suggestion.”
“A bad one,” Dean added before Theo could respond. “Now, moving on.”
“Hire someone to take our places,” Jesse deadpanned.
“Invite other people so they won’t focus on us?” Dean suggested.
“Who?” Jesse asked, raising his head from the floor. “Gracie’s coming as your date; Nicole’s coming as well, the person Uncle Alex thinks is my date; Zara’s date wouldn’t be allowed to enter the room; and Theo, you haven't mentioned a girl in weeks.”
Zara groaned. “It’s so unfair that I can’t bring Tehilla because she’s a girl.”
“At least you don’t have it as bad as Jesse,” Dean put in.
Jesse scowled at his cousin. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m talking about how you’re essentially taking Nicole as your date—even if you’re not dating—something you only take people to that you’re serious about.”
“So? Everyone knows we’re just friends. It’s never mattered in the past; Nicole always comes to family dinner.”
“Yeah, but before you didn’t have someone...else. What’s Raina’s going to think?”
“Raina knows Nicole and I are just friends,” Jesse protested weakly, even as his stomach flip-flopped like a fish out of water.
Raina knew that, right? Nicole had spilled the beans about Raina’s crush on him, but afterward, they’d avoided each other for weeks. He had no idea how Raina actually felt about him. Nicole had told him Raina was only pretending to like him to help Gracie win her bet with Dean, but that didn’t sound like Raina at all. Initially, Jesse had been furious when he found out, but after weeks of thinking it over, he’d spotted some gaps in Nicole’s story. Especially since he and Raina had spent the past few weeks talking and laughing and hanging out again; it was starting to feel like they’d never stopped being friends. Jesse wasn’t quite sure what had happened with the whole Raina-Gracie–Dean-bet thing, but he was pretty confident Raina’s feelings had been real when Nicole had blurted out that Raina liked him.
But now? Did Raina want to be friends, or did she want to be more than friends? She’d shut him down when he tried to talk to her, so Jesse had no idea what was going on in her head. Jesse knew how he felt about Raina, but he didn’t want to put his heart out there and get rejected.
Zara cleared her throat roughly. “Nicole doesn’t like Raina. Now, imagine you were Raina and you found out your rival-slash-enemy was going to family dinner with the boy you like. How would you feel?”
Jesse only caught one part of Zara’s short speech, his brain fixating on three little words. “Raina likes me?”
“No shit, Sherlock!” Zara exclaimed. “It’s a little obvious!”
“Well, she hasn’t said anything to me. How was I supposed to know?”
“Read between the lines, idiot!”
Jesse fixed his cousin with anare you stupidlook. “I can’t read. I’m dyslexic.”
“You had no idea?” Theo asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I wasn’t sure,” Jesse admitted. “We…we haven’t talked about it. Any of it. Look, I know Nicole and I have a history. But that’s over. And anyone who knows us knows that’s not going to happen again.” He glanced over at Theo, wanting to change the subject as soon as possible. “What about you? Any special girls in your life?”
Theo was silent for a long time. “No. No special girls.”
Groaning, Zara sat up, only to flop right back down. “I’m bored. Is this meeting over yet?”
“Nice to meet you, bored, I’m Jesse.” Jesse grinned when Zara shot him the finger. “Oh come on, you knew that was coming.”
“I’m going to head out,” Dean said, standing.
Theo stood as well. “Want to grab a late breakfast with me?”
